in the 3 hole

This is part 3 of tunes to the batting order. Yesterday was the 2 hole.

And then Ted Williams was born and Ted Williams was the greatest hitter that ever lived. And the greatest hitters that ever live bat third. It’s a gravitational law.

I never saw him play and barely a glimpse on tv, but I see the numbers over and over and hear the tales. My father’s family is from Boston and Williams played on the Red Sox his entire 19 year career minus three while serving in Korea.

1940 Play Ball Card, wiki commons

In 1941, Williams was hitting .3996 on the last day of the season. The Red Sox were scheduled to play a doubleheader and the manager offered him a choice; sit both games out and preserve your .400 average or risk it and play. Williams went 6 for 8 in the doubleheader and finished with a .406 average. He’s the last player to bat above .400.

Williams is the all time leader in on base percentage with a mouth watering .482%. He also hit 521 home runs. He also refused to do doff his cap to Red Sox fans for 19 years because they once booed him.

He had a quirkiness about him mixed with some Muhammad Ali “I’m a bad man. I’m king of the world.”

10 thoughts on “in the 3 hole”

Hey Bill. That’s a nice card to have in a collection. Too much color action photo-technology maybe like too much money Yankees free agent sprees.
I don’t know if you collect specific teams or years, players, maybe the Mets? I collect Brewers cards. Doesn’t matter if it’s Kellogs, Police sets, Donruss, whatever. If you’re interested, maybe we can swing a trade if you’re looking for Mets. I swapped some with Grubby Glove a few months back. Expos for Giants.

Now you’ve done it Ray. The Joe Morgan reference sends me back to 1982 when the Giants and Morgan’s home run ruined the Dodgers playoff hopes. I was surrounded by Dodgers fans while watching the Brewers clinch against the Orioles when news of Morgan’s home run arrived. I politely stepped outside and cheered because I was also a Braves fan. Thanks Ray. Glad you stopped by.

on base percentage measures all the ways a batter reaches base not including a fielding error or hitting into a fielder’s choice. It differs from batting average in that walks and hit by pitches and sacrifice flies are included in the formula.

If we think of the primary offensive objective as reaching base, advancing to the next one and ultimately finding a way home, then on base percentage provides a powerful clue as to who is generating the most opportunities for his team to score runs.

And then wOBA or weighted on base average adds value to each hit so a double becomes more valuable than a single and triple more than double and so forth. Opportunities created and production completed all in one formula.

But what about finely tuned base running instincts-the turning a single into a double? The search continues for the all encompassing stat.